(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, and a management apparatus for managing the image processing apparatus, and in particular to a technique for avoiding delays in executing image processing jobs that are caused by rewriting of firmware in the image processing apparatus.
(2) Related Art
Various methods have been proposed in the related art for upgrading (rewriting) firmware that controls print operations. For example, in one method a printer is connected via a network such as the Internet to an apparatus in a center that is some distance from the printer, firmware is transmitted from the center apparatus to the printer, and the contents of a flash ROM in the printer are rewritten with the transmitted firmware. For reasons of cost, a printer that executes rewriting of its firmware conventionally uses a low-speed serial interface for transmission of firmware. Consequently, with the size of firmware increasing in recent years to be a number of megabytes, rewriting can take tens of minutes. Naturally, print jobs cannot be executed while rewriting takes place.
The fact that firmware is sent from the center apparatus directly to the printer means that although a user using a client terminal to make print job requests to the printer is able to observe the state and wait-time of print jobs in the printer, the user is unable to know about firmware rewriting jobs.
Consequently, there are cases in which the user of a client terminal transmits a print job from a client terminal to the printer having judged that there will only be a short wait, but actually execution of a firmware rewriting job has started before execution of the print job. Therefore the user must wait quite some time for the firmware rewriting job to end. This is extremely inconvenient for the user who is made to wait much longer than expected.
This kind of problem occurs not only with printers, but also with other image processing apparatuses that execute image processing jobs and that have a function of updating their firmware, such as scanners. Furthermore, this kind of problem even occurs when a management apparatus used to manage execution of image processing jobs and firmware rewriting jobs for an image forming apparatus is connected to the image forming apparatus.